The Shu Ching is also called the Book of History, the History Classic or the Book of Documents. These are archaic records compiled during the Chou dynasty, and discussing both historical events and events reaching back into China's legendary past, especially the legendary emperors. This description of the legendary emperors Yao and Shun is at the very heart of ancient Chinese culture, and sets the pattern for Chinese imperial rule.
1. Examining into antiquity, (we find that) the Ti Yao was styled Fang-hsün. He was reverential, intelligent, accomplished, and thoughtful, naturally and without effort. He was sincerely courteous, and capable of (all) complaisance. The bright (influence of these qualities) was felt through the four quarters (of the land), and reached to (heaven) above and (earth) beneath.
He made the able and virtuous distinguished, and thence proceeded to the love of (all in) the nine classes of his kindred, who (thus) became harmonious. He (also) regulated and polished the people (of his domain), who all became brightly intelligent. (Finally), he united and harmonized the myriad states; and so the black-haired people were transformed. The result was (universal) concord.
2. He commanded the Hsis and Hos, in reverent accordance with (their observation of) the wide heavens, to calculate and delineate (the movements and appearances of) the sun, the moon, the stars, and the zodiacal spaces, and so to deliver respectfully the seasons to be observed by the people.
He separately commanded the second brother Hsi to reside at Yü-i, in what was called the Bright Valley, and (there) respectfully to receive as a guest the rising sun, and to adjust and arrange the labours of the spring. 'The day,' (said he), 'is of the medium length, and the star is in Naio; you may thus exactly determine mid-spring. The people are dispersed (in the fields), and birds and beasts breed and copulate.'
He further commanded the third brother Hsi to reside at Nan-chiao, (in what was called the Brilliant Capital), to adjust and arrange the transformation of the summer, and respectfully to observe the exact limit (of the shadow). 'The day' (said he), 'is at its longest, and the star is in Huo; you may thus exactly determine mid-summer. The people are more dispersed; and birds and beasts have their feathers and hair thin, and change their coats.'
He separately commanded the second brother Ho to reside at the west, in what was called the Dark Valley, and (there) respectfully to convoy the setting sun, and to adjust and arrange the completing labours of the autumn. 'The night' (said he), 'is of the medium length, and the star is in Hsü; you may thus exactly determine mid-autumn. The people feel at ease, and birds and beasts have their coats in good condition.'
He further commanded the third brother Ho to reside in the northern region, in what was called the Sombre Capital, and (there) to adjust and examine the changes of the winter. 'The day' (said he), 'is at its shortest, and the star is in Mao; you may thus exactly determine mid-winter. The people keep in their houses, and the coats of birds and beasts are downy and thick.'
The Ti said, 'Ah! you, Hsis and Hos, a round year consists of three hundred and sixty-six days. Do you, by means of the intercalary month, fix the four seasons, and complete (the period of) the year. (Thereafter), the various officers being regulated in accordance with this, all the works (of the year) will be fully performed.'
3. The Ti said, 'Who will search out (for me) a man according to the times, whom I can raise and employ?' Fang-ch'i said, '(Your) heir-son Chu is highly intelligent.' The Ti said, 'Alas! he is insincere and quarrelsome: can he do?'
The Ti said, 'Who will search out (for me) a man equal to the exigency of my affairs?' Huan-tao said, 'Oh! the merits of the Minister of Works have just been displayed on a wide scale.' The Ti said, 'Alas! when all is quiet, he talks; but when employed, his actions turn out differently. He is respectful (only) in appearance. See! the floods assail the heavens!'
The Ti said, 'Ho! (President of) the Four Mountains, destructive in their overflow are the waters of the inundation. In their vast extent they embrace the hills and overtop the great heights, threatening the heavens with their floods, so that the lower people groan and murmur! Is there a capable man to whom I can assign the correction (of this calamity)?' All (in the court) said, 'Ah! is there not Kun?' The Ti said, 'Alas! how perverse is he! He is disobedient to orders, and tries to injure his peers.' (The President of) the Mountains said 'Well but . Try if he can (accomplish the work).' (Kun) was employed accordingly. The Ti said (to him), 'Go; and be reverent!' For nine years he laboured, but the work was unaccomplished.
The Ti said, 'Ho! (President of) the Four Mountains, I have been on the seventy years. You can carry out my commands; I will resign my place to you.' The Chief said, 'I have not the virtue; I should disgrace your place.' (The Ti) said, 'Show me some one among the illustrious, or set forth one from among the poor and mean.' All (then) said to the Ti, 'There is an unmarried man among the lower people, called Shunof Yü.' The Ti said, 'Yes, I have heard of him. What have you to say about him?' The Chief said, 'He is the son of a blind man. His father was obstinately unprincipled; his (step-) mother was insincere; his (half-) brother Hsiang was arrogant. He has been able, (however), by his filial piety to live in harmony with them, and to lead them gradually to self-government, so that they (no longer) proceed to great wickedness.' The Ti said, 'I will try him; I will wive him, and thereby see his behaviour with my two daughters.' (Accordingly) he arranged and sent down his two daughters to the north of the Kwei, to be wives in (the family of) Yü. The Ti said to them, 'Be reverent!'
4. (Shun) carefully set forth the beauty of the five cardinal duties, and they came to be (universally) observed. Being appointed to be General Regulator, the affairs of every (official) department were arranged in their proper seasons. (Being charged) to receive (the princes) from the four quarters of the land, they were all docily submissive. Being sent to the great plains at the foot of the mountains, notwithstanding the tempests of wind, thunder, and rain, he did not go astray.
The Ti said, 'Come, you Shun. I have consulted you on (all) affairs, and examined your words, and found that they can be carried into practice; (now) for three years. Do you ascend the seat of the Ti.' Shun wished to decline in favour of some one more virtuous, and not to consent to be (Yao's) successor. On the first day of the first month, (however), he received (Yao's) retirement (from his duties) in the temple of the Accomplished Ancestor.
5. He (Shun) examined the pearl-adorned turning sphere, with its transverse tube of jade, and reduced to a harmonious system (the movements of) the Seven Directors.
Thereafter, he sacrificed specially, but with the ordinary forms, to God; sacrificed with reverent purity to the Six Honoured Ones; offered their appropriate sacrifices to the hills and rivers; and extended his worship to the host of spirits.
He called in (all) the five jade-symbols of rank; and when the month was over, he gave daily audience to (the President of) the Four Mountains, and all the Pastors, (finally) returning their symbols to the various princes.
In the second month of the year he made a tour of inspection eastwards, as far as Tai-chung, where he presented a burnt-offering to Heaven, and sacrificed in order to the hills and rivers. Thereafter he gave audience to the princes of the east. He set in accord their seasons and months, and regulated the days; he made uniform the standard-tubes, with the measures of length and of capacity, and the steel-yards; he regulated the five (classes of) ceremonies, with (the various) articles of introduction, the five symbols of jade, the three kinds of silk, the two living (animals) and the one dead one. As to the five instruments of rank, when all was over, he returned them. In the fifth month he made a similar tour southwards, as far as the mountain of the south, where he observed the same ceremonies as at Tai. In the eighth month he made a tour westwards, as far as the mountain of the west, where he did as before. In the eleventh month he made a tour northwards, as far as the mountain of the north, where he observed the same ceremonies as in the west. He (then) returned (to the capital), went to (the temple of) the Cultivated Ancestor, and sacrificed a single bull.
In five years there was one tour of inspection, and there were four appearances of the princes at court. They gave a report (of their government) in words, which was clearly tested by their works. They received chariots and robes according to their merits.
He instituted the division (of the land) into twelve provinces, raising altars upon twelve hills in them. He (also) deepened the rivers.
He exhibited (to the people) the statutory punishments, enacting banishment as a mitigation of the five (great) inflictions; with the whip to be employed in the magistrates' courts, the stick to be employed in schools, and money to be received for redeemable offences. Inadvertent offences and those which could be ascribed to misfortune were to be pardoned, but those who transgressed presumptuously and repeatedly were to be punished with death. 'Let me be reverent! Let me be reverent!' (he said to himself.) 'Let compassion rule in punishment!'
He banished the Minsiter of Works to Yü island; confined Huan-tao on Mount Ch'ung; drove (the chief of) San-miao (and his people) into San-wei and kept them there; and held Kun a prisoner till death of Mount Yü. These four criminals being thus dealt with, all under Heaven acknowledged the justice (of Shun's administration).
6. After twenty-eight years the Ti deceased, when the people mourned for him as for a parent for three years. Within the four seas all the eight kinds of instruments of music were stopped and hushed. On the first day of the first month (of the) next year, Shun went to (the temple of) the Accomplished Ancestor.
7. He deliberated with (the President of) the Four Mountains how to throw open the doors (of communication between himself and the) four (quarters of the land), and how could he see with the eyes, and hear with the ears of all.
He consulted with the twelve Pastors, and said to them, 'The food! it depends on observing the seasons. Be kind to the distant, and cultivate the ability of the near. Give honour to the virtuous, and your confidence to the good, while you discountenance the artful; so shall the barbarous tribes lead one one another to make their submission.'
Shun said, 'Ho! (President of) the Four Mountains, is there any one who can with vigorous service attend to all the affairs of the Ti, whom I may appoint to be General Regulator, to assist me in (all) affairs, managing each department according to its nature? All (in the court) replied, 'There is Po-yü, the Minister of Works.' The Ti said, 'Yes. Ho! Yü, you have regulated the water and the land. In this (new office) exert yourself.' Yü did obeisance with his head to the ground, and wished to decline in favour of the Minister of Agriculture, or Hsieh, or Kao-yao. The Ti said, 'Yes, but do you go (and undertake the duties.)'
The Ti said, 'Ch'i, the black-haired people are (still) suffering from famine. Do you, O prince, as Minister of Agriculture, (continue to) sow (for them) the various kinds of grain.'
The Ti said, 'Hsieh, the people are (still) wanting in affection for one another, and do not docilely observe the five orders of relationship. It is yours, as the Minister of Instruction, reverently to set forth the lessons of duty belonging to those five orders. Do so with gentleness.'
The Ti said, 'Kao-yao, the barbarous tribes trouble our great land. There are (also) robbers, murderers, insurgents, and traitors. It is yours, as the Minister of Crime, to use the five punishments to deal with their offences. For the infliction of these there are the three appointed places. There are the five cases in which banishment in the appropriate places is to be resorted to, to which places, though five, three localities are assigned. Perform your duties with intelligence, and you will secure a sincere (submission).'
The Ti said, 'Who can superintend my works, as they severally require?' All (in the court) replied, 'Is there not Shui?' The Ti said, 'Yes. Ho! Shui, you must be Minister of Works.' Shui did obeisance with his head to the ground, and wished to decline in favour of Shu, Ch'iang, or Po-yü. The Ti said, 'Yes, but do you go (and undertake the duties). Effect a harmony (in all the departments).'
The Ti said, 'Who can superintend, as the nature of the charge requires, the grass and trees, with the birds and beasts on my hills and in my marshes?' All (in the court) replied, 'Is there not Yi?' The Ti said, 'Yes. Ho! Yi, do you be my Forester.' Yi did obeisance with his head to the ground, and wished to decline in favour of Chu, Hu, Hsiung, or Pi. The Ti said, 'Yes, but do you go (and undertake the duties). You must manage them harmoniusly.'
The Ti said, 'Ho! (President of the ) Four Mountains, is there any one able to direct my three (religious) ceremonies?' All (in the court) answered, 'Is there not Po-i?' The Ti said, 'Yes. Ho! Po, you must be the Arranger in the Ancestral Temple. Morning and night be reverent. Be upright, be pure.' Po did obeisance with his head to the ground, and wished to decline in favour of K'uei or Lung. The Ti said, 'Yes, but do you go (and undertake the duties). Be reverential!'
The Ti said, 'K'uei, I appoint you to be Director of Music, and to teach our sons, so that the straightforward shall yet be mild; the gentle, dignified; the strong, not tyrannical; and the impetuous, not arrogant. Poetry is the expression of earnest thought; singing is the prolonged utterance of that expression; the notes accompany that utterance, and they are harmonized themselves by the standard-tubes. (In this way) the eight different kinds of musical isntruments can be adjusted so that one shall not take from or interfere with another; and spirits and men are brought into harmony.' K'uei said, 'I smite the (sounding-) stone, I gently strike it, and the various animals lead on one another to dance.'
The Ti said, 'Lung, I abominate slanderous speakers and destroyers of the (right) ways, who agitate and alarm my people. I appoint you to be the Minister of Communication. Early and late give forth my orders and report to me, seeing that everything is true.'
The Ti said, 'Ho! you, twenty and two men, be reverent; so shall you be helpful to the business (entrusted to me by ) Heaven.'
Every three years there was an examination of merits, and after three examinations the undeserving were degraded, and the deserving advanced. (By this arrangement) the duties of all the departments were fully discharged; the (people of ) San-miao (also) were discriminated and separated.
8. In the thirtieth year of his age, Shun was called to employment. Thirty years he was on the throne (with Yao). Fifty years afterwards he went on high and died.
